Winter Credit: Gari Melchers

The painting “Winter” by American impressionist Gari Melchers was one of more than 200 pieces of artwork seized by Nazis when the Mosse family fled their home in Germany in 1933. It is a painting of two young 19^th century skaters and was recently discovered in a small museum in upstate New York. “Winter,” sometimes known as “Skaters” or “Snow,” was purchased in 1900 by publishing magnate Rudolf Mosse, who displayed it in a grand Berlin residence loaded with fine art.

The Mosse family spoke out about the Nazis early on in their newspaper Berliner Tageblatt. The negative attention earned the Mosses the ire of the Nazis, who publicly criticized the family and later looted their extensive collection of artwork. Heirs have been tenaciously seeking to recover the lost pieces for the past decade.

The Mosse Art Restitution Project was started in 2011 to locate and restitute the stolen artworks on behalf of the Mosse heirs. They have completed three dozen restitutions covering more than 50 items from public and private museums as well as private individuals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Israel and the United States.

Rudolf Mosse was a prominent publisher from the well-known family. He purchased the painting -- also been known as "Skaters" and "Snow" -- directly from the artist in 1900 at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. Mosse died in 1920 and the family's art collection and publications were passed down to his daughter when his wife died in 1924, according to federal court documents.

The painting went from the Nazis to a number of people before businessman Bartlett Arkell bought it from a prominent gallery in 1934. There was no evidence of Arkell knowing the painting had been stolen Since 1934, the painting has been in the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, New York. When the museum learned the painting was taken illegally, it surrendered the art to the FBI in 2019.

"Winter" has an estimated value in the hundreds of thousands, but the figure will be determined in auction. The painting is expected to be auctioned off by Sotheby's.

There have been three dozen successful restitutions of over 50 Mosse pieces. There are eight ongoing restitutions in Poland, Sweden, Germany, Israel and US.

The restitution started when the Arkell Museum noted its seasonal closing in January 2017 with a Facebook posting that was illustrated with the picture of “Winter”. The post was noticed by a student who was working the person who heads the Mosse Art Research Initiative which is a university-based collaboration involving Mosse heirs and German public cultural institutions.

To read more see:

https://apnews.com/article/new-york-museums-albany-painting-377f76d519391ad1dae6e1f879454db5#

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

The Claims Conference has negotiated significant increases with the German government in compensation and social services due to the Coronoavirus.  The payments will be metered out over two years.

Approximately 240,000 survivors will receive two payments each of €1,200 (approximately $1,400) for a total of €2,400 ($2,800) beginning in December. Most survivors live in Israel, North America, the former Soviet Union and Western Europe. The German government accepted the results of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum regarding “open ghettos” in Bulgaria and the report of Yad Vashem on “open ghettos” in Romania which together recognized 27 specific places as ghettos, thus enabling survivors who were in those places to receive Claims Conference compensation payments.

The group said the aid from Germany will help Nazi victims get groceries, personal protective equipment and other necessities, and cover delivery fees so they can stay home.

Additionally, the German government will directly provide to spouses of BEG recipients who died after January 1, 2020, and do not get a BEG spouse pension, a “transitional payment” of up to nine months.

These additional Hardship Fund payments, along with the 2021 global allocation of over for social welfare services funded by Germany to €554.5 million (over $653 million) will impact Holocaust survivors globally,” Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, Claims Conference Special Negotiator, stated. The negotiations also resulted in a €30.5 million ($36 million) increase over last year in funding for social welfare services for Holocaust survivors.

The Claims Conference currently funds in-home care for over 83,000 frail and vulnerable Holocaust survivors around the world, enabling them to live their remaining days in dignity and in their own homes. Additionally, the organization assists over 70,000 survivors with other vital services, including food, medicine, transportation to doctors and programs to alleviate social isolation.

To read more see:

http://www.claimscon.org/2020/10/negotiations-between-the-claims-conference-and-german-government-result-in-significant-increases-for-holocaust-survivor-programs/

I have no further information on this. Questions should be directed to the Claims Conference- http://www.claimscon.org/about/contact-us/

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee